This Is Maine

I semi-collect picture books about Maine, as I want to somehow partly show my children what my childhood in Maine was like. It's hard to do through most books, as so many are written from the perspective of vacationers, and show only those parts of Maine---the coast, skiing, lobster rolls, things most Mainers don't get to enjoy in the same way as the richer vacationers do. This book has some of that, but also a little more of the real Maine. I liked it that a "tag sale" was shown, but the term in Maine is rarely tag sale---that's a Western Massachusetts term, in Maine, they are yard sales. I also liked the page with a tourist and then a Mainer---dressed the same, but with the subtle differences to show that just dressing like a Mainer doesn't make you one. However, there is still a lot here that is vacation Maine, not year round real Maine---summer camps, skiers, clam bakes---none of those are usually experienced by those really living in Maine! The pictures are really pretty----a nice watercolor look---and the pages have a nice feel, like a sketchpage more than a usual glossy picture book feel. This is one of the better Maine picture books I've seen.